As a kid, I remember playing football in the street with friends. This was a staple of the long summer break. In those days there were not too many cars to disturb the game and the only real problem would be if we mistakenly kicked the ball into the neighbours garden. Safe to say that our neighbour was not a great football fan, or a fan of kids for that matter. He was a scary guy, well for a bunch of ten year old kids and once in his garden the ball was lost for ever.
Bill Shankly, the late great manager of Liverpool in the 1970s once said..." some people think that football is a matter of life and death...i assure you it's much more serious than that"
You may be or not be aware of the advert currently running on Israeli TV which depicts soldiers patrolling the separation barrier (wall, fence, whatever you choose to call it). The soldiers stop when a football flies over the concrete and a game (kind of) football ensues. The ball is sent over the wall and comes back, more soldiers are called to join the party.
There was a great deal of controversy regarding the advert with many calls for it to be cancelled as a racist advert depicting a ludicrous scenario. Well this week Palestinians in Beilin, a village very much affected by the barrier decided to test the theory of the advert. I should note that Beilin has been the scene of regular protests against the barrier by Palestinians and "left wing" Israelis.
A group of Palestinian men started a game of football beside the fence (where they were situated was actually fence not concrete). Anyway, they began playing with various degree of skill, "keepy ups" and the like. Eventually the acid test came and one of them kicked the ball over the fence in the direction of Israeli soldiers who were guarding the fence. The Palestinians then waited with baited breath to see if, just as in the advert a cross border (more accurately cross barrier) game if footy would ensue. After all as the advert says its "what we all would like" (excuse the paraphrasing). Well they did not have to wait long. Over the fence they flew...not a football but tear gas canisters. Yep the IDF replied in the true and tested manner, in front of the news cameras no less. In fairness the idea of standing guard at the barrier and finding a projectile, albeit a football flying over the fence in my direction may make me nervous. What if there is a bomb inside? What if my officer sees me kick it back? What if they are just trying to make fools of us. What if I kick it and don't get it over? What if, what if and what if?
And there we have it. It does not matter how the marketing men and women want to depict the situation and t does not matter how many what ifs we ask ourselves. The situation in reality is pretty dire. There will be no cross barrier football games or any other kind of games for that matter in the near future. The status quo remains no matter how much we want it to be otherwise.
The only game the army seems to be playing lately is a bizarre version of "cat and mouse"with settlers intent on building and rebuilding "illegal" outposts. The game has got pretty physical of late and most likely will become even more so.
I should say that I am a supporter of the barrier in principle. The massive reduction, near eradication of terror attacks in central Israel speaks for itself. However as the Israeli high court has pointed out, the route of the barrier needs to take into account the people on the ground. To them the consequences of the barrier are far greater than the loss of opportunity for a game of footy with Israel's finest.
So what can we learn from this recent attempt at reality imitating art (yes sometimes advertising can be described as an art form). Well, Israel needs to do what it can to ensure the security of its citizens, something that in my opinion the barrier does extremely well. However as a democracy (yeh I know, but nothing is perfect) we owe it to ourselves to ensure that while ensuring our own security, we do not destroy the lives of those on the other side. Love or hate them, they are and will remain our neighbours. We can hope and dream, however until we do something concrete (no pun intended) to address the status quo and change it, then such experiments are doomed to failure. The answer lies in brave politicians grasping the nettle and addressing the situation in a real and meaningful manner. This does not mean Israel alone. If the Palestinians want their "ball back", they are going to have to get their leaders to grasp their own nettles and do what it takes to provide their own people with, in fact all of us neighbours; a far better future. A future where the beautiful game is played without barriers and art and reality are far more in sync.
To quote Bill Shankly once more..."it's a great day for football, all we need is some green grass and a ball". Perhaps our leaders should take note.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Rabbi, The Minister and the need for a constitution
Jews and Arabs should live separately! Religious Jews and secular Jews should also live separately! Women should not serve in the Army! Parking should not be allowed in Jerusalem on the Sabbath!
Well lets see?
A couple of weeks ago, the IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronski stated that in his opinion women should not serve in the Army. A blatantly sexist remark and insult to thousands of Israeli women ho serve in the IDF. Forget the fact that in many areas of the IDF women play a crucial role. For sure the majority of women in the army fill support roles (to the chagrin of many feminists), however it is important to understand that the majority of men in the army also perform support roles. This fact does not make these roles any less important or the contribution of those who serve any less valuable. Ronski has an agenda and his agenda has little to do with the spiritual welfare of the IDF. The general policy of the IDF has always been that there is no place for politics in the army. The attempt to introduce religious and right wing doctrine through the back door, or more accurately the IDF rabbinical door, is cynical and represents a clear and present danger to the army and the country as a whole.
This week's statement by the Housing minister Ariel Atias that he intends to stop "the spread of Arab population" is nothing if not blatantly racist. He contends that Jews and Arabs must live separately. Further still he contends that religious and secular Jews must also live separately. No melting pot for the Shas minister, no multi cultural experiments, no live and let live no love thy neighbour. No! No! No!
No to the very ideals set out in David Ben Gurion's declaration of Independence
"THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. "
The statements sand behaviour of these high profile leaders from the religious community represent a clear and present danger to the state of Israel, a danger equal to that of any terrorist bomb or missile, maybe even greater.
Such statements embolden supporters with dangerous consequences...When religious men physically assault women on for refusing to sit at the back of the bus or because they do not like the way these women have chosen to dress, then the country is under threat. When right wing propaganda is distributed amongst IDF troops about to go into battle (left wing propaganda would be just as bad), the country is under threat. When a citizen of Israel, whether Jew, Arab, Muslim, Christan cannot live where he or she chooses, or other has his or her rights denied in any way, the country is under threat.
It is time to stand up to those who seek to change the very nature and fabric of the state.
Ultimatley it is high time that Israel establish a written constitution which will forever safeguard the key elements and values of the state as set out in our declaration of independence ..... "for the benefit of all its inhabitants".
Well lets see?
A couple of weeks ago, the IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronski stated that in his opinion women should not serve in the Army. A blatantly sexist remark and insult to thousands of Israeli women ho serve in the IDF. Forget the fact that in many areas of the IDF women play a crucial role. For sure the majority of women in the army fill support roles (to the chagrin of many feminists), however it is important to understand that the majority of men in the army also perform support roles. This fact does not make these roles any less important or the contribution of those who serve any less valuable. Ronski has an agenda and his agenda has little to do with the spiritual welfare of the IDF. The general policy of the IDF has always been that there is no place for politics in the army. The attempt to introduce religious and right wing doctrine through the back door, or more accurately the IDF rabbinical door, is cynical and represents a clear and present danger to the army and the country as a whole.
This week's statement by the Housing minister Ariel Atias that he intends to stop "the spread of Arab population" is nothing if not blatantly racist. He contends that Jews and Arabs must live separately. Further still he contends that religious and secular Jews must also live separately. No melting pot for the Shas minister, no multi cultural experiments, no live and let live no love thy neighbour. No! No! No!
No to the very ideals set out in David Ben Gurion's declaration of Independence
"THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. "
The statements sand behaviour of these high profile leaders from the religious community represent a clear and present danger to the state of Israel, a danger equal to that of any terrorist bomb or missile, maybe even greater.
Such statements embolden supporters with dangerous consequences...When religious men physically assault women on for refusing to sit at the back of the bus or because they do not like the way these women have chosen to dress, then the country is under threat. When right wing propaganda is distributed amongst IDF troops about to go into battle (left wing propaganda would be just as bad), the country is under threat. When a citizen of Israel, whether Jew, Arab, Muslim, Christan cannot live where he or she chooses, or other has his or her rights denied in any way, the country is under threat.
It is time to stand up to those who seek to change the very nature and fabric of the state.
Ultimatley it is high time that Israel establish a written constitution which will forever safeguard the key elements and values of the state as set out in our declaration of independence ..... "for the benefit of all its inhabitants".
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